New Delhi: PM Manmohan Singhâ€™s attempt to calm an anguished nation misfired, thanks to shoddy video editing making him a target of the restive twitterati.

Singh, who read an exceptionally brief statement on Monday morning â€” a week after Nirbhayaâ€™s gang rape â€” ended the speech by asking â€œtheek hai?â€ While in itself the remark was just to check if the audio-video recording was technically alright, the perception to a seething public â€” smarting from Sundayâ€™s police brutality â€” was that Singh was mechanically going through the motions of appearing concerned about the incident. Add to it the fact that the PM barely looked up at the camera while reading the statement, making for bad TV.

According to sources, the Doordarshan crew that was deputed at 7, RCR failed to reach on time. â€œSince the team got delayed because of the traffic diversions and the heavy equipment, they were unable to set up a teleprompter for the PM or begin recording,â€ a source said. The PM began his address with just a private news agency recording the speech. This was uplinked directly to TV channels with the â€œtheek haiâ€ comment that went on air. Later, the news agency, ANI, clarified, â€œA question to ANIâ€™s cameraman was inadvertently broadcast by some news channels as we fed the PMâ€™s message. The lapse was rectified.â€ Sources said an inquiry had been ordered by Doordarshan on the reasons for the delay and those responsible for it.

However, the damage had been done. Within minutes of the broadcast, Singh was at the receiving end of caustic remarks on social media. Like Shrirang Vaidya who tweeted, â€œDr Manmohan Singh, a daughter of the nation is violated every 22 minutes in India. Baki sab theek haiâ€, or Arjun who said, â€œI think theek hai is the only part of Manmohan Singhâ€™s speech today that anyone remembersâ€. Others moaned that Singhâ€™s silence was far more effective while still others remarked angrily â€œsab theek nahi haiâ€.

Some had advice to offer: â€œManmohan Singh, nothing is right in this country. Set the country in order, provide safety to women.â€™â€™ People also took exception to the fact that the PM had referred to being a father of three daughters, questioning why it took him so long to speak on the issue.

Womenâ€™s activist and senior fellow at the Centre for Womenâ€™s Development Studies Mary John said the PMâ€™s statement was an â€œempty oneâ€. On the fact that the speech had been publicly slammed, John said the reference to his own daughters was just obfuscation. â€œHis daughters are not at risk at allâ€¦ they are in the least kind of danger,â€™â€™ she said, adding that the government had succeeded in breaking the momentum with use of excessive force and barricading the city.

He ended the speech by asking â€œtheek hai?â€ just to check if the audio-video recording was technically alright, and because of shoddy editing it gave the perception to a seething public that the PM was mechanically going through the motions of appearing concerned about the incident.

That the PM barely looked up at the camera while reading the statement, did make it appear that he was cold to the incident. I am sure he wasn't and that it is but his style to not be too 'hot' while giving speeches!

The chaps who recorded the same have proved to be very unprofessional

This unfortunate issue has added to the grist as this article indicates.

**********************************************

Manmohan and Obama: A tale of two speeches

NEW DELHI: It is a tale of two speeches. The first, delivered by Barack Obama after the senseless slaying of 20 school kids and six adults in Connecticut last week, seemed to come straight from the heart. Few said that the tear wiped away by the US President during the address was fake.

The second speech, given by Manmohan Singh on Monday to assuage a nation protesting against the gang rape of a 23-year-old, was delivered deadpan. The Prime Minister spoke the right words but without any display of feeling. Therefore, unlike the first, it lacked connect.

While the two politicians have contrasting oratorial styles, both politicians were speaking to the nation for a similar reason: to assuage the feelings of a grievously hurt people. Both were important national addresses. The events that caused them were local but their ripples spread through the nation.

If social media is any indication, Singh's TV speech seemed to have failed in the objective it set out to attain. Despite the personal touch about his three daughters, it seemed to lack genuine empathy. A website even wrote an alternative speech for the Indian PM which sounded more heartfelt.

Social scientist Ashis Nandy offers a different point of view. He says, "Manmohan Singh's style is essentially low-key and unheroic. Whether you like it or not is another matter." .......

Manmohan, a good human otherwise, was made to trudge the cesspool of politics and has now become a tragic hero like Hamlet!

Hamlet is well aware of his fatal flaw from the beginning - he constantly questions himself on why he continues to delay the fulfillment of his duty. His continuous awareness and doubt delays him from acting.